Students at the University of New Orleans protested the governor's cuts to education with a jazz funeral Tuesday.

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The students said the state is killing higher education.

University of New Orleans leaders said in the past 14 months the state has cut $12.5 million from the school's budget.

Upset about the cuts, students, administrators and faculty dressed in black to mourn the loss of quality education.

Students rallied outside UNOs University Center Tuesday afternoon.

Last summer, the state cut more than $9 million for the 2009 - 2010 school year then another $3.8 million in January.

I think its partly due to recession, but I think its partly due to priorities and policies coming out of Baton Rouge, said anthropology and geography Professor, Dr. Steve Striffler.

Hundreds of students dressed in black and joined a jazz funeral procession through campus led by UNO musicians.

The procession ended at the amphitheatre with boisterous dancing and music. However, students said what they want for everyone to take away is that the cuts need to stop.

Graduate student Anna Hackman said she worries that the cuts could hinder students from finding potential jobs.

In terms of graduate students, there's a lot of problems with funding. There's not a lot of teaching assistantships -- there's not a lot of research assistantships -- and those are pretty standard if you want to get a job afterwards, she said.

Students said the cuts would also make it harder to graduate on time.

The department is shrinking. Our class offerings are shrinking. The classes are getting larger which means each professor has that much more work for the same number of classes and less time to spend with students, said UNO junior Nicole Gillies

Striffler said more cuts won't simply be belt tightening, it will be cuts to programs, staff and increased tuition.

Income tax revenues are projected to be down which could cause an even larger budget shortfall.

If that happens it could mean another $4 million in cuts this school year.